Summary

Drinking fountain, 1866 to a design by George Shaw for Miss Frances and Miss Maria Stanhope of Cannon Hall.

Description

Drinking fountain, 1866 to a design by George Shaw for Miss Frances and Miss Maria Stanhope of Cannon Hall.

MATERIALS: sandstone.

DESCRIPTION: not inspected, information from other sources.

The drinking fountain takes the form of an Anglo-Scandinavian standing cross with an ornate expanded base mounted on a five-stepped podium with an in-set water trough on the north side.

All four faces of the cross head and tall shaft are richly carved within rope-carved frames. The cross head has interlacing patterns with intertwined serpent motifs to the shaft. The front elevation has a round-headed panel at the bottom of the shaft inscribed: WHOSOEVER / DRINKETH OF THIS WATER / SHALL THIRST AGAIN / BUT WHOSOEVER DRINKETH / OF THE WATER THAT I SHALL / GIVE HIM SHALL NEVER / THIRST BUT THE WATER / THAT I SHALL GIVE HIM / SHALL BE IN HIM A WELL / OF WATER SPRINGING UP / INTO EVERLASTING LIFE. / St John iv, 13-14.

The shaped, expanded base is deeply carved with interlocked beaked serpents and stands on the circular steps. The upper four steps have an angled wedge cut out on the north side into which a stone trough is set. It is carved with snakes coiled around a cross and once held a drinking fountain.

History

The drinking fountain was installed on the old 'Maypole Hill' in Cawthorne to provide a much needed improvement to the village water supply during a time when there were great fears of cholera. In 1865 a water supply was piped from Margery Wood, High Hoyland, into Cawthone with much of the organisation and expense incurred by Walter Spencer Stanhope of Cannon Hall. The ornate cross was the idea and gift of Miss Frances and Miss Maria Stanhope the following year. The designer of the cross was George Shaw (1810-1876) of Saddleworth, an architect who specialised in churches. In the C19 there was a revival of Anglo-Scandinavian style standing crosses, erected for a range of functions. Shaw’s inspiration was said by the Rev Pratt to have been a Norman cross built into the exterior east wall of the north chancel in the nearby All Saints’ Church; this seems to refer to the shape of the cross head, rather than the decoration.

The fountain was officially opened on 5 November 1867, with a celebration taking the form of a public tea attended by around 300 villagers and members of the Stanhope family.

Water continued to be taken from the fountain up to the Second World War, when the water supply was destroyed by open cast mining.

Reasons for Listing

The drinking fountain, Cawthorne, 1866 to a design by George Shaw for Miss Frances and Miss Maria Stanhope of Cannon Hall, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* an unusual drinking fountain in the form of an ornate Anglo-Scandinavian standing cross with a water trough set into the expanded base;

* the cross demonstrates a high level of craftsmanship in its intricate carving, notably the deeply-carved, interlocked beaked serpents of the expanded base;

* the drinking fountain cross was designed by the architect George Shaw who specialised in ecclesiastical architecture and has a number of listed churches to his name.

Historic interest:
* the drinking fountain and associated piped water supply was provided by the Stanhopes of Cannon Hall to ensure a clean water supply to the villagers of Cawthorne at a time when the role of contaminated drinking water in cholera epidemics was beginning to be understood.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26444738

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record